Physical Research

  • Max is one of the core researchers and dancers in the ongoing ‘How Queerness Moves’ research project, funded by ACE.

    The project is a development residency that endeavours to explore and expand queering movement beyond the constraints of institutional structures and heteronormative ideals. The HQM team are seeking to challenge the exclusionary physical traditions of dance and ballet (institutions), utilising a queer lens, as a tool to illuminate the horizons of its potentiality. Our work aims to not only disrupt problematic patterns in dance through queering movement but, also, foster the growth of a queer collective eco-system which shares current knowledge and amplifies queer voices of the future.

  • The House of Mass Music + Dance Research Residency was a research project developed by Max Cookward and Magnus Westwell, supported by House of Mass.

    The week long residency explored the process of creating music and dance simultaneously. Over 30 different artists travelled from around London to participate in morning classes and workshops, helping to contribute to the conversations and soundscapes that eventually helped shape the soundtrack of Magus Westwell’s recent composition for Sadler’s Wells.

  • The residency acted as a creative lab where the three artists (Max Cookward, Malthus and Magnus Westwell) were able to co-create, influencing each others practices through an interdisciplinary approach. Working across movement, sound and film, they explored ideas of intimacy, nostalgia, and chaos. The two-week residency enabled the artists to dismantle the connections between left-field music and movement, and explore the ineffable sensations experienced within underground queer club scenes.

 

Academic Research

  • How have the political complexities in Israel impacted on the global perceptions of the Israeli Contemporary Dance Choreographer, Ohad Naharin and his company, Batsheva?

    Abstract

    After Israel was established as an independent state in 1948, the country needed to form their own cultural identity. Through using the ‘soft power’ of dance as a means to promote positive culture abroad, the Israeli State forged a close relationship with choreographer, Ohad Naharin, and his company, The Batsheva Dance Company. The Israeli State helped to export Naharins work around the globe, with the ambition to build stronger foreign relations and positively promote Israels culture to the rest of the globe.

    This dissertation investigates how the relationship between the Israeli government and Naharin has been viewed globally. The focus is on understanding how the Israeli government may have used Batsheva as a model for cultural diplomacy. The thesis attempts to articulate how the Israel/ Palestine conflict, has catalysed negative global views surrounding Batsheva; leaving many western Pro-Palestine supporters having the view that Batsheva are a propaganda tool for the Israeli state.

    The objective is to investigate how Naharin uses his artistic work, to distance himself from the protests and negative perceptions. This dissertation investigates the ways Naharin uses the abstraction in his artistic creations, and movement language, ‘Gaga’, to promote himself as an apolitical artist.

    For access to full paper please email mcookward@gmail.com

  • How has the subcultural phenomena associated with clubland influenced choreographers Michael Clark and Sharon Eyal to create works that disrupt the ideals embedded within London’s dance-theatre hegemony?

    Max Cookward 16,250 words

    Supervisor - Danny Tokay Reid

    Abstract

    This thesis examines the subcultural phenomena associated with clubland and its influence over the creative work of established choreographers, Michael Clark and Sharon Eyal, between 1980 and present day.

    Through analysing the notion of cultural hegemony, a theory developed by Italian philosopher and politician Antonio Gramsci (1891–1937), this paper aims to explore the ways in which the Uk based contemporary dance industry acts as a microcosm of the wider political hegemony embedded within the Uk. The study will manoeuvre through an ethnological and philosophical exploration of the role that subcultures play within society, before honing in on clubland as a unique heterotopic subculture that disrupts the dominant social binaries individuals are subject to in their daylight lives.

    Research aims to consider why artists such as Clark and Eyal may abandon and boycott dominant dance institutions, and instead turn to the subcultural space of clubland as a place to explore their craft and alter their social and cultural perceptions. Through investigating the various notions of play that clubland offer, this thesis aims to locate the aspects of clubland that allowed Clark and Eyal to alter their habitus and expand their creative capacities. Investigations will then consider how this altered habitus may have inspired these artists to create dance work that disrupts the theatre orthodoxy and binaries exerted by dominant classes.

    For access to full paper please email mcookward@gmail.com